Friday, May 13, 2016

Review: The Raven King

Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey…and is certain she is destined to kill him.Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

The Raven King. Just sitting here to write my review brought on a crazy assault of emotions. There is absolutely no way I could possibly do this book, or this series justice here. None. The Raven Cycle and it's characters have their own spot carved into my heart. This will live on as one of my absolute favorite series in life. I am quite literally still reeling from all of the feelings that the conclusion to this life-altering series has brought on, so bear with me please while I attempt to sort through them.

The Raven King did not disappoint in any.single.way. In fact, considering how high the bar was already set by MissMaggie Stiefvater, I'm bewildered to realize that this book exceeded my expectations in every.single.way. that mattered the most. There are so many things that I already knew with absolute certainty going in: this was going to be heartbreaking. This was going to be emotional. The story wasn't as important as the characters. But the story was still going to be exceptional. The characters though; THAT was what was going to kill me. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I would finish the last word on the last page and be shattered. All of these things turned out to be true but I didn't realize that I would care about EVERYTHING and EVERYONE in this series even more than I already did. This is me, drowning in a sea of feels and very close to starting the entire journey all over again.

There is no way that I am even going to go close to spoiler-territory, but here's what I can say: If you've loved The Raven Cycle with every fiber of your being thus-far, you will absolutely adore The Raven King. Blue, Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah all become something more...so much more than they already were. Their character growth here was superb. My feelings for every single one of them as individuals has increased ten-fold. And the ships? Oh the ships have stolen every single fiber of my heart, and from someone who rarely reads for romance, that is the highest of praise I could offer. Every relationship in this book is heart-breakingly, soul-crushingly etched into my soul. Was it bitter-sweet? Yes. Was it perfect? YES.

I released more contented sighs during The Raven King than I've ever done before. There were many moments where I just stopped reading so I could bask in the heavenly prose, or in a moment too perfect to move on from. I felt feelings too intense to put into words. Stiefvater has a less-is-more way of writing relationships, romance and moments that are so poignant. She sprinkles her magic sparingly with meaningful words, select moments and perfect tone. The result is an assault on your emotions unlike anything else. It will forever be perfect and I will forever want more. I love these all of these characters and their stories passionately.

Am I being dramatic? Possibly. Probably. But I have been affected by The Raven Boys + Blue in a way that I can't fully describe. It's only happened to me with a handful of books/series/characters. When I read the first word on the first page of The Raven King, I wasn't ready for it to be over and as I read the last word on the final page, I was wholly unprepared to say goodbye. I may very well reread this series shortly. I was certainly reread it again and again. Thank you Maggie Stiefvater for writing such a fitting conclusion to beautiful and lasting series. ♥

20 comments:

Wow this sounds so good. I've heard a lot of great things about this series and it's nice when they end on a good note. The characters do sound very interesting, like each one has their own well realized story. Glad this was awesome. :)

I am SO GLAD that both you and Lee have gushed about this one. I was terrified to even start reading this series based on how it would end. I love that it ended in a way that doesn't have you wanting to punch things or screaming cursing epitaphs at Stiefvater. I'm planning on reading this one after 2 review books that I have. I'm really looking forward to seeing everything that you've adored in this one and I'm ready to see how all of these amazing characters end up. Fabulous review!

Oh man, this absolutely delivered 1000000% for me (and for Lee LOL) so I hope it will for you too my friend! I knew I would love it regardless of the outcome because I trust Maggie Stiefvater completely but this went above and beyond what I was expecting ♥ I can't wait to chat all about it with you :D

YOU ARE NOT BEING DRAMATIC AT ALL!!!! ♥ YES, YES, YES to every. Single. Word. You've. Written! Will we ever get over this series, Micheline? I'm thinking not, and I'm PERFECTLY okay with that! Blue and the Raven Boys can own a piece of my heart for eternity! I'm still an emotional mess from taking in how beautiful TRK was and that the series is over. :( I'm so, so happy that we ended up reading it at the same time; I couldn't have made it to the end with my sanity intact without our awesome Twitter therapy sessions! ♥ Please schedule me now for when Empire of Storms releases. XD

THANK YOU LEE, YOU ARE THE BEST!!! I doubt that we'll ever get over this series to be honest. ♥ I plan on rereading it MANY times in the coming years so if ever I do get over it, I'll ruin it (in the BEST way possible) by returning again and again. This series and these characters ALL own a piece of my heart too and I CANNOT GET OVER how perfect the finale was!! You KNOW that I'm still an emotional mess too so I'm SO thankful that we read it at the same time and were able to support each other (and fangirl together) throughout. ♥ We'll definitely reconvene when EoS comes out LOL!!

All I've heard are RAVING things about this book, and it seems the praise is pretty universal so I'm going to chalk this one up to "not just the hype" :) I still have to catch up with books 2 and 3, but I'm looking forward to it knowing that a stunning conclusion awaits me!

Rightly so Mogsy LOL! My expectations for this one were sky high, even though I tried to keep them under control...it wasn't happening. And it delivered all of that and then some :D I hope you adore books 2 (a favorite of mine!) and 3 and that the finale blows you away too!!

I finished the book like literally fifteen minutes ago and I immediately switched on my laptop to read your review :D

I LOVED this book!!! It was the perfect story to end this series. I loved all the character arcs and the romance and the plot... and just everything else! Now I'm a little sad it's over. But I guess it just means I get to re-read the series whenever I want now :D Also, great review Micheline ^^

Oh and the thing I said wanted to happen... It HAPPENED and I'm so happy! ♥

YAY, I'm so happy you loved it too! It really was a perfect end to the series...the characters, the plot, the SHIPS! ALL OF IT! I'm definitely devastated that it's over but YES there will be copious amounts of rereads in the future!! AND I WANTED THAT THING TO HAPPEN MORE THAN LIFE!! It was the best ♥

I've read your review three times now xD I love your enthusiasm and you describe the magic of this series so well. I just started (literally on the first chapter) this book and I'm like NOOOO it's ending but YESSS because it's so good. Argh. Seriously great review though!

Awww thank you so much Alise^^ ♥ I CANNOT wait to see how you make out with this! I hope it delivers ALL OF THE THINGS for you as it did for me :D Oh and I can't bear thinking it's over either D: At least we get to reread the series again and again now hehe!

*SCREAMS FOR ONLY 3985395 YEARS BECAUSE FEEEEEELINGS* OMGGGGG I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH I COULD CRY. I lvoe the whole series. I re-read them before TRK came out, but I honestly want to re-read them again. And sob. And adore those darling boys. LIKE HOW ARE HER WORDS SO DELICIOUS AND PERFECT?!??!?! HOW ARE THE RELATIONSHIPS SO POIGNANT AND AMAZING??!?!??! I WANT A FEW RAVEN BOYS OF MY OWN, ACTUALLY. And also *sobs* the ships. THE SHIIIIIPS. I cannot get over Pynch's perfection and I never will. <33333I actually was a bit surprised at several parts? I wasn't let down, per se, but there were a few things I wish were different. BUT THEN AGAIN. I SORT OF DON'T??? Because I'm 1000% of the opinion that Maggie Stiefvater is a genius writer and knows what she's doing. *nods* I shall read everything from her of ever. EVERRRRYTHING. I'm so so excited for her standalone. OKAY. GOTTA GO FLAIL AND DIE IN FEELS OF REMEMBERANCE.

*SCREAMS RIGHT ALONG WITH YOU FOR ETERNITY* Because that's how long I'll have feels about this series!! I am totally in love with every.single.Raven Boy + Blue and all the side characters. Maggie Stiefvater is a goddess, her prose is divine, her characters are THE BEST. I want ALL the Raven Boys for my own, actually LOL

The SHIPS DESTROYED ME completely. Blue + Gansey was perfection but PYNCH was my undoing. I don't remember the last time I was that felt SO MANY FEELINGS for a pairing. OTP for LIFE.

I was actually a bit confused about a few plot devices BUT overall the feelings took over and I chose to ignore them. I agree, Stiefvater is perfection ♥